Clock, driven by a weight



A. G. FISELIER CLOCK, DRIVEN BY A WEIGHT Filed Sept. 3. 1954 Sept. 9, 1958 iii L XII CLOCK, DRIVEN BY A WEIGHT Amoldus Gerhardus Fiselier, Losser, Netherlands, assignor to Paulus Jan Plaisier, s-Gravenhage, Netherlands Applicafion September 3, 1954, Serial No. 454,100

Claims priority, application Netherlands September 25, 1953 2 Claims. (Cl. 58-2) Moreover, with my clock the advantage is obtained.

that by applying the improved driving mechanism or clock motor, substantially consisting of the weight and the vertical screw spindle, the rotation of which is transmitted to the driving mechanism of the hands and to the speed regulator, this transmission can be effected without it being necessary that the force of the weight acts on a horizontal intermediate shaft in the clock, in which case such a shaft with associated transmissions must be strongly constructed, as is the case with the normal clocks driven by a hanging weight that must be pulled up for winding up the clock.

On the contrary, by applying my improved clock motor, it becomes possible to build into the clock as speedregulating means the speed regulating mechanism of a normal pocketor wrist watch, as now this rather weak mechanism will not be too heavily loaded. Moreover, such a mechanism as a part of a normal watch can be easily and cheaply obtained in the trade and obviously has a great advantage of a very exact speed regulation.

Another object of the invention is to provide for a clock driven by a weight in which the mechanism of the clock is totally protected against weather influences and the like, although it is easily accessible for repairs.

A further object is a clock of simple, but aesthetic appearance in which clock the casing with the annular dial constitute a nice element.

Still another object is to provide for an improved clock motor which cannot only be used for driving the hands of the clock, but also for other purposes, e. g. for driving the striking work of the clock, for driving the alarm work of an alarm clock, for driving the music work of a musical box and moreover for switch clocks.

These and other objects of my invention will be apparent from a reading of the following description taken in connection with the drawings, wherein for purposes of illustration I have shown two embodiments of my invention.

In the drawings:

Figure l is a front elevation of a clock according to my invention.

Figure 1a is a schematic plan view of the speed-regulating mechanism applied in Figure 1.

Figure 2 is a front view of the clock according to the Figures 1 and 1a on a smaller scale.

Figure 3 is a front view of another embodiment of my invention.

In Figure 1 a cylindrical casing is indicated by 1,

United States Patent ice which casing is provided with a pedestal 2. In this casing a weight 3 is slidable, which is vertically guided by a guide rod 4 fixed onto the inner wall of the casing. The weight 3 coacts as a nut with the screw spindle .5 which extends through a central hole in the weight, said spindle being rotatably supported by the cover 6 closing the lower end of the casing and by a closing disc 7 fitting into the casing at its top end.

The rotation of thescrew spindle 5 caused by the descent of the weight 3 is transmitted via a ratchet wheel 8 with pawl 9 to a driving toothed wheel 10 coacting with a toothed wheel 11 on an intermediate shaft 12 which is parallel to the screw spindle and rotatably sup ported on the inner wall of the casing 1.

At its lower end, this shaft drives the clock hands 13 and 14 via the usual transmission and at its top end, by means of an intermediate toothed wheel 15, the shaft drives the speed-regulation mechanism 16.

In the embodiment as shown, the speed-regulation mechanism, which is schematically shown in plan view in Fig. la, consists of a part of a normal pocket watch or wrist watch movement having toothed wheels 17, 18, 19 and 20 including the balance all of which are placed on closing disc 7.

In this manner, the driving mechanism of the clock hands 13, 14 and the speed-regulation mechanism are driven in parallel from the intermediate shaft 12.

At its top end the casing is closed by means of a cover 21.

The annular dial fixed onto the casing 1 is indicated by 22.

The clock which can function during eight days, for instance, without being wound up again, for winding up can be simply held upside down for returning the weight during which period the transmission to the clock hands and to the speed-regulation mechanism is switched off by means of the pawland ratchet mechanism 8, 9.

After the clock has been wound up, it is returned into its normal position.

Figure 2 shows the standing clock according to Figure 1 in front view, whilst Figure 3 shows a modification in the shape of a hanging clock.

Although I have shown and described herein preferred embodiments of my invention, it is to be understood that I do not desire to limit the application of the invention thereto, and any change or changes may be made in the structure and arrangement of the parts, within the spirit of the invention and the scope of the subjoined claims.

What is claimed is:

1. A weight driven clock windable merely by momentarily inverting the clock comprising, in combination, a vertical frame, a screw spindle rotatably journalled in said frame, a weight having a central bore provided with means engaging the screw thread of said spindle for rotating said spindle upon vertical movement of said weight, said frame including means for guiding said weight for vertical movement and preventing rotation of said weight, clockwork including a gear train for moving the hands of the clock, and said spindle being provided with one-way drive means meshing with said gear train to actuate the hands, upon rotation of said spindle during downward movement of said weight toward the bottom of said frame, and a speed regulating mechanism connected with said clockwork to regulate the rate of rotation of said spindle, said clockwork including a vertical shaft carrying a pinion meshing with said gear train and a pinion meshing with said speed regulating mechanism.

2. A weight driven clock windable merely by momentarily inverting the clock comprising, in combination, a vertical frame, a screw spindle rotatably journalled in said frame, a weight having a central bore provided with means engaging the screw thread of said spindle for rotating said spindle upon vertical movement of said weight, said frame including means for guiding said Weight for vertical movement and preventing rotation of said Weight, clockwork including a gear train for moving the hands of the clock, and said spindle being provided with a driving gear of said gear train, and a watch speed regulating mechanism connected with said spindle through said gear train to regulate the rate of rotation of said spindle, said frame including a lower cover disc receiving the lower end of said spindle and an upper disc receiving the upper end of said spindle and supporting said speed regulating mechanism, and a removable cap covering said mechanism, a pawl and ratchet mechanism connecting said driving gear to said spindle, and

said clockwork including a vertical shaft carrying a pinion meshing with said driving gear and a pinion meshing with said speed regulating mechanism and a pinion driving the hands upon rotation of said spindle during downward movement of said weight toward the bottom of said frame.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 16,344 Tuerlingx Jan. 6, 1857 258,421 Hotchkiss May 23, 1882 1,057,951 Elieson Apr. 1, 1913 2,521,923 Lato Sept. 12, 1950 FOREIGN PATENTS 15,498 Great Britain Oct. 2, 1889 

